Seven Day Love Story
by Futakuchi Onna
Summary: Tokka Week '08; seven scenes for Toph and Sokka.
1. Betrothal

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Her fingers were growing numb, and Toph didn't like it one bit. She clung tighter to Sokka's back, burying her face in his shoulder and wishing, not for the first time, that he'd been born in the Earth Kingdom. If he had been, then they wouldn't have had to make the long trek out to the Southern water tribe's icy home.

Toph shifted so that she could talk to Sokka without her voice being muffled in his shirt. "How close are we?" she asked nervously. She _hated_ the ice, hated not being able to see. It made her feel so weak. She truly was crippled if she couldn't bend. Sokka tilted his head to the side, and his warm breath blew over her cheek.

"Nearly there. We should be in the village in a couple of minutes. How are you holding up?"

Toph scowled. "Cold. Hungry. I feel so blind." Sokka chuckled.

"Well, now you know how all the non-Earthbending blind people feel, right?" he offered. "It'll help you gain a little perspective." Toph's soft laugh was nearly swallowed up by Sokka's shoulder.

"It's a mixed up world when you're giving anyone mature advice."

"Hey!" Sokka complained. "I can be mature!" Toph just shook her head and hid her smile.

"Whatever you say, Snoozles." Suddenly Sokka stopped.

"We're here." He set Toph down. Her shoes sank into the deep snow. She was relieved to at least have something below her feet, even if she couldn't see through it. Sokka wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her forward, into the heart of the village.

The sounds had been muffled by the thick layer of snow over everything, but now that they were in the middle of things she could hear better. Lots of people, it sounded like. Sokka called out. "Hey, Yon, guess who?" Suddenly, a series of loud crunches - footsteps, Toph realized, judging by the rhythm - came towards them. Sokka was yanked away from her, and Toph's heart leaped to her throat as she was left with no way whatsoever to navigate.

"Sokka, kiddo, you sure grew up! Where were you? Katara visited a couple of times, but she didn't ever seem to know where you were are what you were up to." It was a male voice, judging from the tenor an adult. Sokka interrupted the man's joyful rant.

"Hey, Yon, good to see you too, but do you think you could put me down?" Toph smirked, and a soft thump in the snow next to her told her that Sokka had been put down.

The newcomer spoke again. "Hey, who's the girl?" he asked. Toph could feel him radiating body heat in front of her. She opened her mouth to answer, but Sokka beat her to it.

"Yon, meet my fiancee, Toph Bei Fong. Toph, meet my best friend growing up, Yon." Yon whistled.

"Man, little Sokka's gettin' married? Time sure does fly." Sokka's hand slipped into Toph's. "So, you gotta tell us everything! How'd you guys meet, what's up with little sis, when's the wedding - _everything_." Sokka snorted.

"Sure, but do you think we could go inside first? I for one, am _freezing_." Yon roared with laughter.

"You've been away so long, you've gotten soft! This is _nothing_, compared to what we get in winter, remember? Back when you were ten, we had that huge snowball fight, we got _everyone_ to join in, and your sister beat us all!" Yon continued to ramble, his voice getting further away, and Sokka tugged on Toph's hand.

"C'mon, lets get you inside and warm you up," he told her. Toph quickly followed, wanting to get out of the cold as soon as possible.

They ended up in a small tent-like structure towards the edge of the village. Toph crawled in ahead of Sokka and was glad to feel thick furs under her gloved hands. It might not be earth, but anything was better than more ice. Yon was already there, and he shifted over to allow them more room as Toph and Sokka entered.

"So," he rumbled, once everyone was settled. "How'd you two meet?"

Sokka moved a little closer to Toph, and she kicked him in the shin. "Well, you were gone fighting the Fire Nation when it happened, but... did anyone ever tell you about how Katara and I found the Avatar in an iceberg?"

"Well, yeah, I think the little kids mentioned it a few times. I always thought they were making stuff up." Yon shifted eagerly. "So... I guess they weren't? Hang on... is _she_ the Avatar?" he asked. Sokka snickered, and Toph thumped his arm. He winced.

"Nah, the Avatar's a guy named Aang. He's madly in love with Sugar Queen - Katara. I'm his Earthbending teacher." Toph answered. She could clearly hear the disbelief in Yon's next words.

"You're an _Earthbender_? No offense, but aren't you a little... small?" Toph glared at where she thought he was sitting.

"Size's got nothing to do with it. Before Twinkle Toes came along, I was undefeated in Earth Rumble - it's an Earthbending tournament. As it is, my record is 42 wins one loss. And Twinkle Toes used Airbending." Yon whistled appreciatively.

"Twinkle Toes?" he asked, curious. Toph shrugged.

"Aang. He's always really light on his feet, makes him really hard to get a good picture of, so I call him Twinkle Toes." Yon digested this information, before asking another question.

"What do you mean, 'hard to get a good picture of'?" Toph snorted.

"I'm blind as a badgermole, so I 'see' by feeling vibrations in the ground. It's an Earthbending technique, called Earthsight. That's why I don't like this place, too - it doesn't work on ice, so I'm basically helpless." Toph kicked her shoes off, glad to feel her feet exposed to fresh air again. They were getting hot, cooped up in her boots.

Yon nodded thoughtfully, digesting this new information. Then he turned to Sokka and clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Earthsight, tournaments, nicknames - Sokka, man, you sure picked a winner!"


	2. Worst Case Scenario

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"Augh," Sokka groaned. "I'm gonna die." Toph raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Why are you going to die?" she asked, although she already had an inkling of what he was getting at.

"Your parents are going to _kill_ me. I'm just a Water peasant! They're Earth Kingdom nobility! They'll say I'm not good enough for their little pookie darling!" Toph snorted.

"One, my parents have never called my their 'little pookie darling'. Two, okay, yeah, they'll probably hate you, but I was blind for three weeks while we stayed in the Water Tribe to tell your friends. Think of it as payback. And three, don't worry about it, Sokka. I'll protect you from the mean 'ol soon-to-be-in-laws."

"Great, that'll make them think I'm really tough." he groaned. Toph punched his arm cheerily. Sokka doubled over from the pain.

They continued on through town, until Toph suddenly stopped. "We're here." Sokka peered over her head. The sprawling estate looked exactly the same as it had when he'd first been there. Toph walked determinedly towards the door, with the hunch in her shoulders that Sokka knew meant she really, _really_ didn't want to be here.

Two guards with spears blocked her path. "No entry," the one on the right growled. Toph sighed noisily and rooted around in her tunic. She pulled out her Bei Fong family crest and held it up. The guards glared suspiciously at her. "Who are you, little girl?"

"My name is Toph Bei Fong and I used to _live _here. Now get out of my way before I bend your sorry asses into the ground." The guards snapped to attention and immediately moved to the sides.

"We should not have arrested your progress, Lady Bei Fong. We are deeply sorry," the one on the left gulped, obviously afraid.

"You should be," sneered Toph. Sokka rolled his eyes.

The two of them stomped inside - well, Toph stomped. Sokka crawled meekly, wondering if he would ever learn his way around the labyrinthine estate. He immediately retracted his wish - he didn't want to be around long enough to learn.

"Aah!" Sokka clamped his hands over his ears at the high-pitched screech, and glanced warily down the hall it came from. It sounded like a hamsterbat. It appeared, however, to be a vaguely familiar woman in earthy robes that didn't really facilitate ease of movement.

He dodged out of the way just in time to let Toph's mom past without collision. She eagerly flung her arms around her daughter, smearing urgent kisses into her hair. "Oh, honey, Toph, darling, you've come back to us!" she sang. Toph attempted to wriggle free, but to no avail.

Suddenly, a noisy clacking of shoes came from down the same hallway Lady Bei Fong had just exited, and a similarly garbed man rushed by, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the embrace.

Toph finally managed to throw the two of them. "Mom! Dad! Calm _down_, dammit!" Her parents didn't seem inclined to do so, but at least they didn't rush back in for more hugs. With a reluctant sigh, Toph pulled first her teary-eyed mom, then her beaming dad, into quick hugs.

Toph's mom grabbed her arm suddenly, staring wide-eyed at Toph's throat. Sokka and Toph's dad followed her gaze, and Sokka winced as his soon-to-be-in-laws noticed the blue Water Tribe engagement necklace hanging around her neck.

"What's this...?" Lady Bei Fong breathed, lifting the pendant.

"Er, that's an engagement necklace... from the Water Tribe..." Sokka mumbled, testing the metaphorical waters, pun not intended. Toph's dad glanced at him sharply.

"You...?" Sokka nodded meekly, and Lord Bei Fong puffed up indignantly. "Absolutely not! There is no way you'll marry my daughter, you - you fiend! I won't let you kidnap her!"

Toph snorted. "_Kidnap_? Are you kidding me? Sokka's too much of a coward to do that. He dithered so much, eventually _I_ had to ask _him_."

Sokka blushed brilliantly but didn't deny it. It was true - Sokka _had _danced around the subject for months, until Toph had finally gotten sick of it, kicked him in the shin and demanded that he marry her.

Toph's mother shook her head stubbornly. "Oh, no! Our Toph is a sweet, helpless little girl. She just has illusions of grandeur. I'm sure all those Earthbenders she beat up were just going easy on my little pookie darling." Sokka tried futilely to conceal a snicker. "So, you - you _Water tribe peasant_, you can leave right now, because there will be no wedding."

Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but Toph just grabbed him by the arm and grinned insanely. "Well, we'll just be leaving then."

"Wait just a minute! _He'll_ be leaving - you're staying with us, where you belong, _surely - _"

"No, mom. I'm getting married, and I'm going to live with him. If you can't deal with that, then I guess you shouldn't come to our wedding." Sokka blinked. Toph was handling this remarkably well - it was a rather scary contrast to her usual spitfire personality.

"But surely, honey, you'd rather live here, where you'll be safe, rather than in some impoverished village in the _Water tribe..._"

Toph sighed. "You just don't get it, do you mom? While I was away, I met the Avatar, fought in a war, nearly died a few times, got captured - so yeah, it was dangerous. But I also met a ton of great people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Sokka, Aang, Katara, Zuko - and loads more. And sorry mom, I'm not a little girl anymore. I know what I'm doing - getting married to the man I love. What's wrong with that?"

Lady and Lord Bei Fong stared at their daughter, stunned into silence, as she grabbed Sokka's hand and lead him at a run out of the estate. The moment they'd cleared the gates, Sokka stopped, wrapping Toph into a fearsome hug. She wriggled her head about until she could hug him back and still look up into his face. "Wha...?"

"Thanks for... for doing that. For picking me over them. I guess it was hard - they're family, right? And even if you don't like them that much, they're still... well, you know. And thanks for bringing us here, even if things didn't turn out the way we wanted, and thanks - " his speech was cut off by Toph's mouth, soft on his own. She pulled away and gave him a fond grin.

"You were babbling, Snoozles." He laughed.

"Well, good thing I've got you to shut me up, huh?" The only answer he got was a happy kiss.


End file.
